Personal Space
by You've Got Mail Jeevas
Summary: Personal space? Ha! No such thing, if you ask Mello. Mello/Matt. T for cursing. Rating may go up. Edit: Tsk, apparently Light has no concept of personal space either. Things aren't looking good for Matt.
1. Chapter 1

(Author's note: So...yeah. This is my first fanfiction. XD This is just a little practice one-shot for now, but I may add more chapters if I think of a plot. Right now I'm just working on my writing style, and trying to get out of the habit of using the characters' names so much, which I'm sure I still did anyway. -_- Any help on that would be appreciated. Reviews are loved with the intensity of a thousand suns. Or something like that. Now, to the story! :D)

Matt hurriedly closed his laptop as Mello stomped into their cramped apartment. The blonde definitely did not need to see the websites that Matt had decided were more important than his work.

"Matt," he practically growled, narrowing his eyes at the gamer, "Is there any particular reason you aren't watching those surveillance tapes I told you to look through?"

Matt gulped. Time to change the subject. "Uh...nope. But I bought you some chocolate." Ouch. Judging from Mello's glare, the distraction wasn't going over well. He was seething now, his icy blue eyes still locked on Matt.

"Yes, you bought me some chocolate with the money_ I_ gave you. I'm so grateful. Now then, an explanation?"

The redhead laughed nervously. "C'mon Mel, I'm sorry about the tapes, I-- Hey!" Matt ducked a little too late and was hit in the forehead with the boot Mello chucked at him. He gave Mello a glare and tackled him to the floor. "Don't throw shit at me when I'm trying to apologize!"

Mello snickered. Making Matt angry always helped his own temper. He rolled to the right quickly, knocking his friend off balance and pinning him to the floor. Matt looked even more pissed than before as Mello smirked down at him.

"I'll throw shit at you whenever I want, Matty." Matt actually blushed a little at the nickname, lessening his glare at the blonde just a bit. When the only answer he got was some indignant mumbling from the gamer, Mello boredly ran his fingers through the boy's hair. Matt instantly relaxed, figuring the fight was over and letting his eyes slip shut. Mello laughed, scratching behind his ear. Matt gave an annoyed groan at being treated like a dog.

The redhead opened his eyes to look up at Mello. "Alright, seriously, you're the weirdest-- Whoa." Matt blinked. Mello's face was close to his. Like way too close. "Dude, personal space." Mello just kept smirking.

"Fuck your personal space."

And before Matt could even think of a sarcastic comment on how eloquent his friend was, Mello smashed their lips together.


	2. Chapter 2

Matt was shocked to say the least, and more than a little confused, but that didn't stop him from returning the kiss with more enthusiasm than he even knew he had.

But no sooner than he had really started getting into it, shamelessly arching up against the blonde and trying to pull him closer, Mello had stood up and sauntered out of the room.

Matt sat up, panting a little and more confused than ever.

"…The hell?" He stood up, contemplating going after Mello when he heard the door close. Great, he left. The bastard kissed him like that and then just left. Augh. Matt skulked to his room and threw himself on the bed, immersing himself in a videogame.

Even in the pleasant haze that came with playing one of his games, he couldn't help but keep wondering what was going on with Mello. As far as Matt knew, the guy was straight as a board. Then again, straight guys didn't usually kiss their male best friends. The gamer just chalked it up to a miscalculation and cleared his thoughts of everything but the game playing out on the t.v. screen.

* * *

Mello didn't come back until late that night, or rather very early in the morning. Whichever you consider it. Matt was still lying around on his bed, half-asleep and intently pressing the buttons on a controller as he watched the television screen. He blinked when Mello plopped himself down on the bed. More specifically, he plopped himself on the bed over Matt, sitting on the redhead's back.

Matt craned his neck back, trying to catch a glimpse of Mello's expression.

"Do I even wanna know what you're thinking?"

Mello giggled—yeah, he fuckin' giggled, and god, he must've been so drunk—and slid Matt's goggles off of his head. "Nope."

Matt closed his eyes as Mello's fingers laced into his hair. "How drunk are you?"

The other seemed to consider the question, touching his bottom lip contemplatively before grinning. "Really drunk."

Matt sighed, managing to push Mello's weight off of him and sit up. After almost 20 minutes worth of failed attempts to get the blonde to go to his own room, he finally gave up and let Mello stay in his bed. Mello curled up close to Matt, wrapping his arms around the gamer's waist and falling asleep.

Matt groaned, not believing his luck. After twisting at every angle possible and realizing he still couldn't get out of Mello's arms or escape the hot breath on his neck, he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.

* * *

(Author's note: Well there you have it, chapter 2! :D I'll be working on making the chapters a bit longer, although not too much is happening in the story right now.)


	3. Chapter 3

Matt prided himself on having plenty of patience, and being somewhat slow to get angry, but this was getting ridiculous. Mello's odd brand of torture had continued for the rest of that week, and well into the next few. No mention of it had been made by either of them. He wanted to know how Mello really felt. If any of what had been happening meant anything at all.

Sighing and steeling himself for a possibly nasty argument, Matt sat on the couch next to Mello. "I need to talk to you."

The blonde bit off a piece of the chocolate bar he was holding and looked over at Matt. "Yeah? About what?"

"About what you've been doing."

Mello furrowed his eyebrows. "Hm?"

Great, he was going to have to actually say it. "Uh…you know. Kissing me. Sleeping in my bed. Basically being all over me."

Mello laughed, and the tone of it made Matt's stomach churn a little.

"Jeez, I was wondering when you were gonna say something. You must've really been enjoying yourself, huh?"

Matt already didn't like the turn this conversation was taking. "Well yeah, of course I did…wasn't I supposed to?"

"'Course not. I was trying to make you uncomfortable." Mello's tone was bored as he took another bite of chocolate. The redhead didn't even bother to stop himself from gaping.

"Wh…what? Why?"

Mello sneered a little. "To get you to do your damn work for once. If it made you uncomfortable, you would've worked harder in exchange for me not touching you, right?"

That was it. Matt resolved, right then, that for once in his life, he was going to get angry at Mello. No, not just angry. Pissed off. More than he'd ever been before. He stood up, glaring at the blonde, ready to bring up every single thing that he'd ever wanted to scream at him for. And then Mello looked up at him.

That eye contact was all it took for Matt to lose his nerve. Growling a few curses under his breath, he sent one last glare at Mello before stomping out of their apartment and getting into his car.

Mello sighed and tossed the chocolate wrapper in the trashcan, watching the car speed off through the window and mumbling an apology that wasn't meant to be heard.

* * *

(Author's note: D: Oh no, Mello's being a douche in this chapter. D: Well he just better get his act together soon! *nods* Matt should be meeting a few other characters in the next chapter, unless I'm suddenly attacked by plot bunnies with a better idea.)


	4. Chapter 4

Matt drove through the city for a while, not really caring where he was going.

He was already feeling angry at himself for backing down when he was finally about to tell Mello off, and even angrier at the tears that he was barely holding back. But most of his anger was still directed toward the blonde. He was supposed to be his friend. Mello had even called them best friends, a few times. He was sure no one else would put up with Mello's pissy attitude and ridiculous expectations. And this was the thanks he got for sticking around? Having his emotions toyed with?

Eventually he figured he had better stop wasting gas, and parked outside a small café he'd seen a few times before but never had the time to visit. Grabbing a pack of cigarettes and his lighter and stuffing them in his vest's pockets, he got out of the car and walked into the café.

His clothes earned him a few curious looks, but he mostly went unnoticed as he sat down in the only empty booth. He groaned when he realized it wasn't in the smoking section. He'd just have to have a cigarette later.

After looking over the menu for a few moments, Matt blinked and looked up when he noticed someone sliding into the other side of the booth. The man just smiled charismatically at him.

"Mind if I sit here? I always take my lunch break here, but there's no empty seats today."

Matt just blinked again. The man looked like he was in his early twenties, with hair and eyes almost the same shade as coffee. "Uh, sure. I don't mind."

Other than being somewhat attractive, the man was the picture of normality. He was even wearing the cliché pressed shirt and tie combo. To say he looked strange sitting across from Matt, with his tussled mess of red hair and wrinkled clothes, was quite an understatement.

When a waitress finally noticed them and asked for their orders, the man spoke up first, grinning at her.

"We'll both have a piece of red velvet cake and coffee, please."

Matt couldn't stop himself from scoffing when the girl let out a giggle and ran off to fill their order. "Ordering for me? What a gentleman."

The response was a laugh as the man leaned back in his seat. "You have no idea."

A few minutes later, the waitress brought their food. And, with the slight creepiness of having some self-proclaimed 'gentleman' ordering for him aside, Matt had to admit the cake looked really good.

The redhead tore into the cake, savoring every bite as if he hadn't eaten in days. Then again, it might've been a day or so since he'd really had a good meal. Meanwhile, the man across from him ate his cake somewhat disinterestedly, sipping his coffee as Matt devoured his food.

"Dude, this is actually really good."

The man raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have ordered it if it wasn't. Aren't you going to drink your coffee?"

Matt looked at his cup, shrugged, and downed about half of it in one gulp. He'd be damned if he was going to pass up an offer for free caffeine.

He had about three minutes to enjoy the rush of energy before he started feeling a little dizzy. He shook his head a little, trying to clear his mind. He saw a smile from across the booth.

"You okay?"

He groaned, pushing his goggles up on his forehead to rub his eyes. "Kinda dizzy…would you mind helping me to my car, uh…what'd you say your name was?"

The man stood up, helping Matt to his feet and letting him lean on his shoulder. He didn't supply Matt with an answer until they were back to the car, and Matt was just a bit too out of it to wonder how the man knew which car was his.

"My name," the man practically purred, sounding far too pleased with himself as he pushed Matt into the car and got into the driver's seat, "is Light Yagami."

Light…he'd heard that name before somewhere. Some files Mello had told him to hack into? Wait…L's old files. The ones about the Kira case.

"…Well shit," Matt hissed before passing out in his own backseat.

* * *

(Author's note: D: Well shit indeed, Matt. Psh, I bet most of you saw that coming a mile away. XD Poor Matt. I honestly didn't intend for poor Matty to get kidnapped at first. Light made me do it. Really.)


	5. Chapter 5

When Matt awoke, his head was reeling. He tried to sit up, hardly able to move his hands because of the dull metal digging into his wrists. Handcuffs, he realized. After he managed to sit up, he leaned his back against the wall behind him and looked around.

There wasn't much to see. He was in a dimly lit cell, with a small white cot pushed against one of the walls. The door had a small window that he could barely see out of from where he was sitting.

This was bad. Worse than bad. He had gotten himself kidnapped by the man that L had been certain was Kira. A whirlwind of scenarios ran through Matt's mind, but he couldn't figure out what use he could be of to Kira. It didn't seem likely that Kira just kidnapped teenagers as a hobby. There must've been a reason behind this. Did he know Matt was one of L's successors? That he was working with Mello?

Of course, that had to be it. Light must have been planning to use him as bait to lure Mello out of hiding. For once, Matt really hoped that Mello didn't give a shit about him. God, he didn't want to be the cause of the blonde's death.

He tried to calm himself down, taking a deep breath and trying to slip his hands out of the cuffs. Just as he was about to give up, the cell's door opened, and Light stepped into the room.

Matt managed his best glare at him, renewing his struggle with the handcuffs. Light just laughed smugly, sitting on the cot. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Matt growled. "Go to hell."

Light chose to ignore the comment. "Pleasant small-talk aside, I'm here to inform you of your options in this situation. I know you're working with the mafia and, by association, with Mello."

Putting on the most nonchalant expression he could manage, Matt raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You think _I'm_ in the—"

"Your acting is terrible," Light drawled, cutting Matt's sentence off. "Yes, I think you're in the mafia. Now listen to your options. One, you can cooperate with me and help me capture Mello, in which case I may let both of you live."

"…And what's the second option?"

Light smiled again, the same charismatic smile he'd used at the café. Matt hated it now. "You can decline my generous offer and be used as bait to lure Mello out into the open, after which I'll have you both killed."

Matt closed his eyes, thinking frantically. What was the right thing to say? Would either way really get either him or Mello out of this situation alive? After a few moments, he opened his eyes and glared defiantly at Light.

"Fuck off."

* * *

(Author's note: Chapter 5, activate! XD The story is slowing down, so I'm willing to take suggestions if anyone wants to give them. And reviews are always appreciated, of course.)


	6. Chapter 6

(Author's note: Chapter 6 is finally up! :D I hope you all enjoy it. And, as was requested, we have some of Mello's perspective in this chapter.)

* * *

Shit. That was the only word Mello could force out of his clenched teeth even though he had a million things to say. It had been two days since Matt left. He knew Matt wouldn't just up and leave for so long. Something had happened to him. And it was all his fault. Shit, shit, shit.

Mello had meant to talk to Matt about what had been going on between them, but Matt beat him to it. He was nowhere near ready to admit to the little acts of affection, let alone talk about them, so of course he had used the first excuse he could think of. He wished he would've thought of something less careless to say, but it was too late for that now. The only thing that mattered was that Matt was gone.

He hated this. He wanted Matt back. So what should he do? He knew or someone was definitely stopping Matt from coming back, but what was killing him was that he didn't know how or why. He could think of a million things that could be happening to Matt right now, and none of them were good.

With no hints or clues as to where the gamer could be, Mello resorted to asking if people had seen someone matching Matt's description. He even assigned a few of the lower level mafia members to search for him, giving them orders to bring the redhead back in any way necessary.

There was no way he was letting anything happen to Matt.

* * *

Matt curled up on the cot, his wrists aching from the handcuffs and his head aching from his captor's constant speaking. He would give anything to punch that smug bastard in the jaw.

"So," Light continued, disregarding his unwilling guest's discomfort, "pretty soon Mello will realize what happened to you. And if everything goes according to plan, he'll barge in here like an idiot to rescue you."

Matt scoffed. "You don't know who you're dealing with, buddy. Don't pretend you can predict what he'll do, because even I can't do that. And damn," he added with more than a hint of distaste, "you must really like to hear yourself talk, huh?"

Coffee colored eyes narrowed at him. "Well aren't you a rude little brat? Either way, you'll see. My plans never go wrong." And with that, Light stood up and walked out of the cell, slamming the door.

In spite of his bleak situation, Matt smirked a little. He felt a little better knowing he'd hit a nerve with the normally calm man. Now he just had to wait, and hope that Mello wasn't as predictable as Light thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Mello gritted his teeth. He knew he had to control his temper, especially if he wanted help finding Matt. Reminding himself to keep calm, he strutted confidently into Near's headquarters.

"Near. Matt's been kidnapped."

Near was sitting in the floor, idly twirling his hair as he stacked dice on the floor in front of him. He sighed. "Why does Matt never do anything helpful or productive?" Holding up his hand to preemptively cut off the snarky comment from Mello he knew that statement would earn him, he put his headset on. "I have a fairly good idea where he could be."

Mello crossed his arms. "Then help him."

"That is what I am about to do, if you would please stop interrupting me." He pushed a button on the headset, contacting Light.

Light looked at his computer screen, flipping the switch that would allow him to talk to Near. "Yes, N?"

"Hello second L. I need to ask for your assistance."

Choosing to ignore being called 'second L', Light answered calmly. "Hm? How can I help you?"

"An acquaintance of mine has gone missing, presumably because he has been kidnapped. He is of great importance in bringing Kira to justice."

Light tensed up a little. He hadn't expected Near to get involved in this. Had Mello actually gone to him for help? This wasn't good. He forced himself to relax. There was always the chance that Near meant someone else. "I'll certainly see what I can do. I'll need a description of him, of course." He had to stop himself from sighing as Near described Matt. That was definitely the guy he had kidnapped. And with the rest of the task force in the room with him, he didn't have much of a choice but to come clean.

…Sort of.

"He hasn't been kidnapped, N. He's being detained here under suspicion of working with the mafia."

Near raised an eyebrow. "I was not aware that your headquarters was now the police headquarters and prison as well. I can assure you that Matt is very important to both our investigations, despite any illegal contacts he may have. I would like you to release him."

Light half glanced back at the other members of the task force. Aizawa in particular was giving him a pointed look. Damn it, he had no choice but to let the kid go. Anything else would make him look way too suspicious. He ground his teeth together a little in frustration. This wasn't how he planned for things to go.

"Of course. Any help with the investigation is good. I'll release him this afternoon."

"Good." Near flipped the switch on his headset, turning it off and looking at Mello. "Matt will be released this afternoon."

Mello smirked, ruffling the boy's white hair. "I think I hate you a little less, kiddo."

* * *

(Author's note: Wow, there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter. XD Leave it to Light and Near to chat it up like that. :D Aw, Mello's being appreciative. Well, as appreciative as Mello would be to Near. XD)


	8. Chapter 8

"I told you I'm sorry about what I said! Stop bitching at me! You should be grateful I got you out of there!"

To say things hadn't gone well after Matt got back to the apartment would be an understatement. Sure, Mello had apologized, but for the past hour he'd been denying Matt any explanation for what happened. And their fights had a history of being particularly nasty.

"I _am_ grateful! I just want to know the real reason you did all that touchy feely shit with me! And I'm not bitching!"

Mello groaned, rubbing his forehead to ward off the beginnings of a headache. "Just shut up, Matt. I'll explain."

Matt didn't look very happy about being told to shut up, but he crossed his arms and sat on the couch, looking expectantly at Mello for an answer.

The blonde sat in the armchair across from him, sighing a little. "Look Matt, you know we're best friends. I'm not just gonna sit here and say I'm in love with you all of a sudden, because I honestly don't think I am. But I care about you more than anyone, and I feel comfortable doing that kind of stuff with you. And I think maybe I could end up loving you, eventually."

Matt waiting for his friend to finish talking, and couldn't help laughing a bit. "You didn't want to tell me that? It would've made me really happy to hear all that, you ass." He got up from the couch and sat on the arm of Mello's chair, ruffling his blonde hair and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

The blonde smirked a little, leaning against Matt. "You know I can never do things the easy way." Matt smiled.

"I know."

* * *

(Author's note: XD Alright everyone, this is probably the last chapter. D: Honestly, I can't decide if I want to end it with this, but I really don't want to have to go through the whole sad scene of them dying. XD And even though I've been trying for days, I can't come up with a way for them to get out of it, since it was almost necessary to the show's plot. So unless someone has like...an amazing suggestion for how they could cooperate with Near or something, this should be the end of the fic. XD And yeah, I know it's a little sappy.)


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